BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Jefferson County Republican Party officials plan to meet Tuesday to canvass votes from March 13 and certify the results, the first steps toward a potential recount in the primary race for Circuit Court Place 13, party officials said.

"We should have some answers then," said Brent Latta, acting chairwoman of the Jefferson County Republican Party.

Lea Bone trailed Pat Thetford by one-half of one percentage point in the Republican primary for Place 13, which would qualify her to request a recount if the difference holds.

Only provisional ballots remain uncounted, along with any military ballots that might trickle in through the end of the month.

The county's canvassing board -- Probate Judge Alan King, Court Clerk Anne-Marie Adams and Sheriff Mike Hale -- will meet at noon Tuesday to assess the provisional ballots and add to the vote count any that are accepted, King said.

Jefferson County Republican Party officials will meet starting at 1 p.m. Tuesday to officially certify the results on the county level, Latta said. Those results will be sent to the state Republican Party executive committee to certify each county's tallies on Wednesday.

Any challenge to an election, including a recount request, may be filed at that point, said Colin Luke, legal counsel to the Alabama Republican Party. The losing candidate has a 72-hour deadline to file a written request for a recount or a waiver.

"We encourage candidates to file a contest as soon as the results are certified," Luke said.

The candidate would have to put money up front to pay for the recount, which could run $10,000 or more, according to party and county officials.

State party officials must turn in their lists of certified candidates to the Alabama Secretary of State's Office on Friday. The top Republican vote-getters will be included even if a challenge is filed, Luke said. If any challenge results in a change, the official candidate list would be amended, he said.

Bone said she would decide her next move after certification.

"The margin is so close," she said.

Thetford said he is cautiously optimistic his victory will be upheld.

"Based on the number of provisional and military ballots from past elections, there should not be enough of an increase in votes to change the outcome," he said. "Hopefully we will have a resolution."

The winner of the Place 13 Republican nomination will face Carole Smitherman, a Birmingham city councilwoman, in the Nov. 6 general election for the civil-court seat in the county's Birmingham division. Smitherman beat two opponents March 13 to win the Democratic nomination without a runoff.

In the county judicial race that is headed toward an April 24 runoff, Jim Hughey is expected to be certified as the opponent to Tamara Harris Johnson, the top vote-getter in the March 13 Democratic primary for Circuit Court Place 9, also a civil-court seat in the Birmingham division.

Jefferson County Democratic Party officials plan to meet Monday to certify their county primary results, said Richard Mauk, the county party chairman.

Hughey finished second in the March 13 primary, roughly 750 votes ahead of David Skinner. Johnson tallied 41.8 percent of the vote, Hughey 28.5 percent, Skinner 24.9 percent and David Sawyer 4.8 percent.

But the provisional ballots are not expected to change the finishing order in the Place 9 race, officials said.

Not all provisional ballots filed March 13 will be counted, King said.

Accepted provisional ballots will include those in which a voter without identification at the polling place was able to provide ID later to elections officials, or votes from people who requested absentee ballots but instead filed a provisional ballot on Election Day, he said.

"There are not a lot of provisional ballots in general, and an even lesser amount that potentially would be counted," King said.